Improvement in sugar-mold carriages



C. E. BERTRAND. Sugar-Mold Carriage.

' Patented Mar. 30, 1858.

NAN.

Thurn Sii/rims- PATENT Brien.

O. E. BERTRAD, OF WILLIAMSBURG, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN SUGAR-MOLD CARRIAGES.

Specification forming part of Lettcrs Patent No. 19.7435 dated March 30, 1858.

1 panying drawings, in which- Figure lis an elevation, Fig. 2 a'plan view, and Figs. 3, 4, and 5 detail views, of my improved apparatus.

The nature of my invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of an apparatusfor holding, carrying, plugging, and unpluggin g su gar-molds,whereby the different operations connected with the filling of 'the molds with the liquid and boiled sugar are greatly facilitated, and a convenient and easy means is afforded for carrying and handling of the filled molds, and, lastly, an accelerated and uniform draining of the mother-liquor is effected.

The method heretofore employed for filling the molds consists in drawingoff from the heater oi boiling apparatus by means of scoops the boiled sugar mass into a copper vessel. These are speedily (to prevent cooling) carried to and emptied into the molds, which are arranged in rows in the crystallizing-rooms in treacle-jars or wooden supports, under which pots are placed. This operation is ver laborious, and a great loss of sugar is occasioned thereby. The molds thus filled on the lowest floor are raised to the upper doors, either singly, one by one, or several simultaneously, by means of quadrangular wooden cases mounted upon a four-wheeled train, and perforated with three or four round holes into which the molds are set. These cases are difficult to move in all directions required, and cannot be turned so as to travel around corners or within curves of small radius without spilling over and wasting a great deal of sugar. The molds are then allowed to cool gradually and the su gar to erystallize. By stirringup occasionally the sirup in t-he molds a compact net-work of small crystals is formed, the meshes being lled up with the mother-liquor or saturated solution. This collects in the lower part of the mold, and is ready to drip when the plugs are removed. The usual mode is `to pierce or bore a hole in the point of the loaf, which is done in the following manner: Aworkman lifts and holds themold to be pierced as high as he conveniently can, while another punches a hole by means of a steel point of about six inches in length by half an inch in diameter by striking on the head of said point witha heavy hammer. This mode of operation is very disadvantageous. The hole thus struck is rarely in the direction of the axis ofgthe mold, and it very frequently happens that the point is split and broken and some particles of the 'su` gar-loaf are detached and brought to face the point, whereby the outlet is obstructed. Some refiners are in the habit of using elongated iron points, insteadof the paper plug, toclose the opening at the point; but this mode is given up, being impracticable. These nails or points never hold tight, and generally burst the mold when detached.

My improved apparatus is calculated to obviate all these various defects, as it will be seen from the description of its construction and operation. Y

A is a skeleton platform having four, six, or more depressions or cavities, O, in the center of each of which an upright steel pin, p, is permanently secured. Around this pin and against the bottom of the cavity is a washer, W, n iade of india-rubber, leather, or of any other suitable yielding and impermeable material. This platform is supported by. three wheels of a very small diameter, two of which are mounted on the axle X. The third, L, is a sort of a caster or swivel wheel, its axle being free to revolve around a vertical pivot. To insure perfect ease and sensibility of this caster-wheel, it is mounted upon a standard having a pivot-bearing, P, in the brace-plate B. Another advantage derived from this arrangement consists in preserving the bearing from vbeing clogged up by the yviseid liquor that strains from the mold.

The molds, when placed upon the platform, as shown in Figs. l and 2, will have their oriiices hermetically closed by their weight acting against the rubber washers. The steel points penetrate the interior of the mold and occupy a central and axial position in relation thereto to keep the molds in their proper po sition-z'. e., so that the axis of each cone be. a perpendicular line or a continuation of the steel point. -They are held by a skeleton brace-plate, B, vwhiclrconsists of arms embracing the upper part of the mold. arms extend around the periphery of the mold toward the center of the wagon until they' reach the greatest diameters of the molds, which are in a vertical plane passing through a lateral row of pins, whence they are tangential to the periphery. the purpose of allowing the molds to be withdrawn from the carriage without lifting them more than is necessary to clear the points. The molds are prevented from falling out by guard-chains or bars G,which are hooked into eyes E of the braces. The brace-plate is'supported at a convenient height from the platform by means of hollow columns or struts and bolts.

The operation is as follows The empty forms or molds being placed on the platform, so that the pinsV of the platform shall' pass through the orifice at the apex of the cones, the guard-chain or rod hooked in th-e eyes of the braces to hold the forms in their proper position-4. c., fittin g in to the circular bracestheyarebrought under the heater, where the boiled sugar mass is drawn from. This is done by presenting the or eight molds in succession to the outlet without removing them from the car. rlhe great mobility ofthe apparatus renders this operation very practicable, and preferable to any other mode of filling hereto fore known or used.

In au establishment refining about fifteen millions of pounds of raw sugar annually, a set 0f eleven workmen were daily-and specially employed for this operation. Nowthe same is done with ease by two men, effecting also a great economy of sugar usually thrown on and absorbed by the floor. Another advantage consists in the cleanliness, which is a great desideratum in every refinery, and also that the sugar reaches the molds losing but a very small amount of its required temperature. The orifices of thermolds,being pressed against |This arrangement is for These l the india-rubber rings, are hcrmetically closed without the employment of papier-mache, cement, or loam. -The sugarin the molds is then left to cool and to crystallize. When the sugar acquires suflieient solidity, the guardchain is unhooked, and the molds are lifted a few inches (j ust enough to clear the pins) and set aside to allow the mother-liquor to drip through the hole, which is cast in the loaf instead of being punched or drilled, as rthis was heretofore done. The conveyance of six or eightfilled molds placed in an apparatus of this description is very convenient. One man cairwithout exerting any extraordinary effort, push the car weighing some twelve hundred pounds along through the passages of the different rooms, turn around corners without spilling over any quantity of sugar. rlhe ear loaded with molds is generally pushed upon a platform of a hoisting apparatus and elevated to an upper room, where the crystallization takes place. The molds are then removed and replaced by empty ones.

-Having now described my improvements, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The sugar-mold carriageY constructed and arranged to operate substantially in the manner describedthat is to say, the platform in combination with stationary pins supported by two wheels, and a caster the standard of which bears against and pivots in the upper or brace plate, the latter being composed of semicircular arms, holding, in connection with guard-chains or bars, the conical molds, in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

ln testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

C. E. BERTRAND. XVitnesses:

E. B FAIRFIELD, AARON FRANK. 

